Latino Daily News

The police officers who burned two dogs alive while clearing homeless people out of a camp in Colombia’s capital will be fired, Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro said.

The incident occurred in San Cristobal, a southern suburb of the capital, and outraged residents.

“Any member of the police who abuses his power as a public servant in Bogota will be fired by the commander of Bogota’s Metropolitan Police, Brigadier General Luis Eduardo Martinez,” Petro said in a posting on Twitter.

“The members of the police who incinerated animals in Bogota will be fired,” the mayor said.

Officers were sent to clear out two homeless men who had camped in a field under plastic tarps with their dogs.

The officers sprayed the make-shift camp with gasoline when the men refused to leave, eyewitnesses told Colombian television.

The two terrified men managed to get away when the shelter caught fire, but the dogs burned alive because they were tied down, eyewitnesses said.